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Luton v QPR
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Kick Off: Friday 30th August at 20:00
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Competition: Championship
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Watch Live: Sky Sports Football
The Championship returns on Friday evening as QPR make the short trip from West London to Bedfordshire to face Luton.
This will be the second time these sides face each other this week following their League Cup tie on Tuesday night, which was won by QPR on penalties. However, both generally have a greater focus on league action, and three points are deemed even more important with both clubs still seeking a first league victory this season.
It has certainly been a more disappointing start for Luton, who following relegation from the Premier League will naturally have a greater amount of expectancy upon them to challenge again at this level. They are winless in four in all competitions, and including the end of last season, the Hatters last tasted a competitive victory of any kind way back in April.
The only loss on QPR’s record so far came on the opening day when West Brom defeated them at Loftus Road. They are however on a three-match run in all competitions of successive draws. It could be argued they would gladly take a repeat from their midweek clash, but knowing the expectations of their very attacking manager Martí Cifuentes they will strive for more.
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Luton v QPR Best Bets
➡️ Over 1.5 first-half goals @ 2.75 on Paddy Power
Luton should click into gear at some point and start picking up points regularly, but at the moment it is a little difficult to trust them. They are finding goals quite hard to come by and with QPR yet to keep a clean sheet this season, it makes it hard to land on a likely winner for Friday’s match.
Therefore, we like the idea of taking a chance on over 1.5 First-Half Goals at 2.75. Town have shipped 77.67% of their goals in all competitions this season, whereas Rangers have also had issues in this time; conceding four, which is the joint-highest of any Championship team so far.
Luton being at home should see them play with a high intensity as they search for that opening victory, and although they may create chances, QPR also scoring looks to be just as likely as well.
📂 Luton v QPR Cheat Sheet
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📊 Luton Form and Stats
Quite simply, Luton Town have forgotten what it feels like to win a game. As mentioned, they last took home three points in April, beating Bournemouth 2-1 at Kenilworth Road. Even so, that solitary triumph is their only one in their previous 23 games in all competitions, a run dating back to the start of February.
Two-thirds of the goals conceded by the Hatters in all competitions this season have occurred in the first half of matches, indicating something of an issue early on in games. This is a contrast from the previous campaign when 64.71% of their league goals against would be in the second half of matches. Perhaps a bigger concern is failing to score in two of their three league games so far, although they have scored in all of their home league clashes since a 1-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur back in October 2023.
It would appear Town are suffering something of a hangover after relegation last season given they sit inside the Championship bottom three, although it is only three league matches into the campaign. They are one of just six winless teams, but they can take some encouragement knowing they are at least creating chances. Rob Edwards’ side are ranked second only to Middlesbrough in terms of xGF in the Championship.
Something Luton will be desperate to do is to improve their fortunes in home fixtures. Although 66.67% of their league triumphs last season did come in their clashes held at Kenilworth Road, they still had the third-worst home record in the Premier League as they were relegated. Conceding an average of 1.95 goals in those particular fixtures was undoubtedly a reason for their struggles, with scoring goals rarely failing to be an issue, having scored in all but four of their home games in all competitions since the start of 2023.
📊 QPR Form and Stats
Five matches into the 2024/25 season for Queens Park Rangers in all competitions and the one standout statistic is that every one of those games saw both teams score. Clean sheets have often been particularly important to QPR based upon their winning record under manager Martí Cifuentes. In fact, of the 14 fixtures they’ve won in all competitions since he took charge last October, exactly 50% saw them concede no goals.
A heated affair could be incoming on Friday night based upon recent clashes involving The Rs. A total of three cards have been produced across their previous two league battles and referee Robert Madley could have a busy evening ahead of him. Last season, 18.52% of games he officiated would include a player being dismissed, roughly one in every five matches he took charge of. He has averaged 2.50 cards in his two contests this season, but no reds as of yet.
Another intriguing trend amongst QPR’s three opening league matches this season is that the games have averaged 3.33 goals, which suggests goals may be on the agenda. They could count themselves as a little unfortunate to have conceded six goals so far, considering they have allowed just 2.98xG.
Cifuentes will know the importance of a strong start considering his team have been a little leaky in the opening stages. Four of their six league goals conceded came during the first half; the joint-highest of any Championship side so far. Those four have come specifically within the first 30 minutes, and given last season they only claimed points in just four of 22 league games when letting in the first goal their manager will be all too aware that they must be much stronger defensively from the first whistle.
⚔️ Luton v QPR Head-to-Head
Since 2019 this has been a relatively frequent fixture, although not usually to the extent of this week, with Friday’s meeting being the second time Luton and QPR will face one another in the space of a few days. Tuesday’s League Cup tie had to go all the way to penalties to separate them following a 1-1 draw inside 90 minutes and it was QPR that prevailed in the end.
Rangers have had mostly positive experiences when travelling away to Kenilworth Road in recent times. In their meetings since 2019, Queens Park Rangers have claimed seven out of a possible 12 points in their trips to their Bedfordshire-based opponents; winning twice, drawing once, and suffering a solitary defeat.
However, the two most recent league clashes were in the 2022/23 campaign, and it would be Luton who would be jubilant at full-time both home and away after securing wins in both. On each occasion, The Hatters would net exactly three goals but Luton also received more yellow cards in each contest, too.
* We recommend waiting for confirmed team line-ups before placing any bets.
* All odds displayed correct at the time of publishing.
Written by an Andy verified content writer
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